Methods and apparatus for facilitating operation of control access systems

Abstract

A method for a security system includes receiving a first location and a first time period, retrieving an access control tree having nodes associated with locations and edges coupling nodes, wherein a first node represents the first location and a second node represents a building entry, traversing the access control tree from the second node to the first node to determine an ordered list of nodes and associated time periods, storing the ordered list of nodes and an identifier associated with a user, providing to a smart device a token associated with a requested access control point, when a requested node is within the first ordered list of nodes, and authorizing with the requested access control point a physical action visible to the user in response to the requested token.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method for a security system comprising:
 receiving via a first transceiver from a smart device a first identifier associated with a first access control point and a user identifier associated with a user of the smart device; 
 retrieving from a memory a first ordered list of nodes in response to the user identifier, wherein the first ordered list of nodes is associated with a first plurality of access control points; 
 determining in a processor whether the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 determining a first token associated with the first access control point when the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; and 
 providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the first token in response to the first access control point being within the first plurality of access control points; 
 wherein the first token is output from the smart device to cause the first access control point to become accessible to the user; 
 receiving via the first transceiver from the smart device a second identifier associated with a second access control point and the user identifier associated with the user of the smart device; 
 determining in the processor whether the second access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 determining a second token associated with the second access control point when the second access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 receiving via the first transceiver from the smart device an indication that the first token was successfully authenticated by the first access control point; 
 providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the second token in response to the second access control point being within the first plurality of access control points, and to the indication that the first token was successfully authenticated by the first access control point; and 
 wherein the second token is output from the smart device to cause the second access control point to become accessible by the user. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 
 wherein the determining the first token associated with the first access control point comprises digitally signing a message. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein the second access control point is selected from a group consisting of: a security door within a building, a security entry within a building, an elevator within a building, a check-in kiosk and a turnstile within a building. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein the second access control point is selected from a group consisting of: a laptop, a smart device, a tablet, an environmental control, and a computer. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 wherein the first token is associated with a first time period; 
 wherein the second token is associated with a second time period; and 
 wherein the first time period begins earlier than the second time period. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining a plurality of tokens associated with a plurality of access control points when the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; and 
 providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the plurality of tokens in response to the first access control point being within the first plurality of access control points. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 directing via the first transceiver to the smart device to delete tokens associated with access control points within the first plurality of access control points stored within the smart device in response to the second access control point being within the first plurality of access control points. 
 
     
     
       8. A security system comprising:
 a first transceiver configured to receive from a smart device a first identifier associated with a first access control point and a user identifier associated with a user of the smart device; 
 a memory configured to retrieve a first ordered list of nodes in response to the user identifier, wherein the first ordered list of nodes is associated with a first plurality of access control points; 
 a processor configured to determine whether the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points, wherein the processor is configured to determine a first token associated with the first access control point when the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 wherein the first transceiver is also configured to provide to the smart device the first token in response to the first access control point being within the first plurality of access control points; 
 wherein the first token is output from the smart device to cause the first access control point to become accessible to the user; 
 wherein the first transceiver is configured to receive from the smart device a second identifier associated with a second access control point and the user identifier associated with the user of the smart device; 
 wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the second access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 wherein the processor is configured to determine a second token associated with the second access control point when the second access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 wherein the first transceiver is configured to receive from the smart device an indication that the first token was successfully authenticated by the first access control point; 
 wherein the first transceiver is configured to provide to the smart device the second token is in response to the second access control point being within the first plurality of access control points, and to the indication that the first token was successfully authenticated by the first access control point; and 
 wherein the second token is output from the smart device to cause the second access control point to be accessible to the user. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 
 wherein the first transceiver is coupled to a wide-area-network. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 8  wherein the second access control point is selected from a group consisting of: a security door within a building, a security entry within a building, an elevator within a building, a check-in kiosk and a turnstile within a building. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 8 
 wherein the second access control point is selected from a group consisting of: a laptop, a smart device, a tablet, an environmental control, and a computer. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 8 
 wherein the processor is configured to determine a plurality of tokens associated with a plurality of access control points when the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; and 
 wherein the first transceiver is configured to provide to the smart device the plurality of tokens in response to the first access control point being within the first plurality of access control points. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 8 
 wherein the first token is associated with a first time period; 
 wherein the second token is associated with a second time period; and 
 wherein the first time period begins earlier than the second time period. 
 
     
     
       14. A method for a security system comprising:
 receiving via a first transceiver from a smart device a first identifier associated with a first access control point and a user identifier associated with a user of the smart device; 
 retrieving from a memory a first ordered list of nodes in response to the user identifier, wherein the first ordered list of nodes is associated with a first plurality of access control points; 
 determining in a processor whether the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 determining a first token associated with the first access control point when the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; and 
 providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the first token in response to the first access control point being within the first plurality of access control points; 
 wherein the first token is output from the smart device to cause the first access control point to become accessible to the user; 
 receiving via the first transceiver from the smart device a second identifier associated with a second access control point and the user identifier associated with the user of the smart device; 
 determining in the processor whether the second access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 determining a second token associated with the second access control point when the second access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; 
 directing via the first transceiver to the smart device to delete tokens associated with access control points within the first plurality of access control points stored within the smart device in response to the second access control point being within the first plurality of access control points; and 
 providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the second token in response to the second access control point being within the first plurality of access control points. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14  wherein the determining the first token associated with the first access control point comprises digitally signing a message. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 14  wherein the second access control point is selected from a group consisting of: a security door within a building, a security entry within a building, an elevator within a building, a check-in kiosk and a turnstile within a building. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 14  wherein the second access control point is selected from a group consisting of: a laptop, a smart device, a tablet, an environmental control, and a computer. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 receiving via the first transceiver from the smart device an indication that the first token was successfully authenticated by the first access control point; and 
 wherein the providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the second token is in response to the second access control point being within the first plurality of access control points, and to the indication that the first token was successfully authenticated by the first access control point. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 determining a plurality of tokens associated with a plurality of access control points when the first access control point is within the first plurality of access control points; and 
 providing via the first transceiver to the smart device the plurality of tokens in response to the first access control point being within the first plurality of access control points. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 14 
 wherein the first token is associated with a first time period; 
 wherein the second token is associated with a second time period; and 
 wherein the first time period begins earlier than the second time period.